The impact of school challenges on parental employment among families with children on the autism spectrum

Families raising children on the autism spectrum often experience financial pressures, including lower incomes linked to reduced parental employment participation. Although the literature identifies many school challenges for children on the autism spectrum and their families, the evidence analysing the impact of school challenges on parental employment is sparse. This paper presents findings from in-depth interviews conducted with 19 families living in England, Scotland and Wales to explore their perspectives on the impact of school on parental paid employment. School support and staff understanding can be critical for children on the autism spectrum and their families. Lacking school support was found to contribute to eventual formal and informal school exclusions as well as child school refusal. These manifestations of unmet school needs meant that parents frequently experienced employment interruptions, exacerbating both financial pressures (the risk of losing work pay) and temporal pressures (for example, making up for lost working time). Families with children on the autism spectrum often experience financial pressures and tend to earn less.It is known that children on the autism spectrum encounter school challenges, but these challenges have not been explored within the context of parents' engagement in paid employment.The study finds that formal and informal school exclusion (including permanent exclusion periods and occasions of the child being sent home early from school) impact parental employment.The study also finds that child school refusal (the reluctance from the child to attend school) is another way that school-related challenges impact parental employment.Child school refusal and child behaviours which may lead to formal and informal school exclusions are identified as consequences of lacking school support, understanding and flexibility.